All over the news are stories about Volkswagen cheating their emissions tests to improve sales and get approval for their vehicles. This has left millions of consumers feeling betrayed, cheated, and angry. As a result, many wonder what their legal options are. Chief among those options is the question of whether to join one of the many class action suits against VW.
As of the time of writing this, there are at least 34 separate class action lawsuits against the German automaker. After the car giant admitted to cheating emissions tests with a device built into VW diesel engines, lawsuits literally followed just a few hours later. The gold rush began all over the nation, and the lawsuits are in multiple locations, typically filed in federal courts.
This is not without precedent. In 2012, Japanese automaker Toyota agreed to a payout on a in a defect case that totaled over $1.1 billion. For attorneys, who can collect a percentage of the recovery as their attorney fee, the allure of such a case is undeniable, which explains the flood of spontaneous lawsuits. However, for the individual clients involved in the class actions, the recovery is often much (much) smaller. Some plaintiffs in the Toyota case made as little as $20 off of their participation in the lawsuit, while the 85 attorneys involved in the massive lawsuit managed to get $227 million in fees and costs between them.
So, when deciding whether to join a class action lawsuit against Volkswagen, you need to understand what the lawsuit is for, what you have actually lost, and what you stand to gain if you join the class. It is also important to understand what a class action suit really is. In a class action lawsuit, one or a few individuals act as representatives for a much larger group of plaintiffs suing one or several defendants. The members of the class must have very similar interests in the lawsuit so that they can get similar recoveries in the case. A class action lawsuit can be an effective way to secure a remedy for large groups of individuals who suffered similar harms.
Many wonder whether the government will get involved and press some sort of criminal charges. That is possible, and could be a welcome development for many of the class members, as the government often has greater resources and stronger techniques at its disposal than private litigants typically do. Frequently, government intervention can happen at the same time as civil actions, and can lead to a more useful and faster resolution for the members of the class.
As a result, it is clear that there are a number of valuable benefits to joining a class action, and a few drawbacks. However, how does that compare to going it alone in such a lawsuit? A lawsuit filed by an individual would have the benefit of being uniquely crafted to the circumstances of that particular individual’s case. Thus, rather than receiving generalized relief, an individual litigant can potentially get all of the damages to which they are entitled.
However, the added benefits also come with added costs. All of the costs of investigating the case, litigating, and pursuing recovery after judgment will fall to the individual and his or her attorney. This could lead to enormous costs, delays, and a less tactically powerful case compared to those brought by the armies of attorneys and class members pushing forward class action lawsuits regarding the same or similar matters. Of course, even if pursuing the matter alone, most attorneys will be happy to take such a case on a contingency basis, meaning you are likely to pay few if any of the costs of the lawsuit out of your own pocket, and the attorney’s fees will be taken as a percentage of your final recovery.
The decision as to how to proceed can be a difficult one. Anybody who bought one of these vehicles is likely going to be unable to resell it with such an inherent defect built into it, so the actual damages may be pretty significant. Given the intentional nature of the defect, there will likely also be a basis for additional claims like fraud which could include punitive damages where the sky is the limit on dollar amounts.
To best analyze your options, you should speak with an attorney in your area. You can find a lawyer by using HG.org’s lawyer search feature.
